The bracelet that comes back.

As my poor dear mother could tell you, or as a good many of my friends could corroborate, I have an impressive knack for losing things, or leaving them in the wrong place at the wrong time and ending up with a few pieces of it instead. But there is one thing I own that always seems to come back to me.

The amount of times I have stressed out that this thing, a bracelet, has gone, sighed to myself and moved on only to have it magically appear somewhere is impressive. A friend once found it on the pavement at uni, picked it up and wore it around for a day or two. That time, I really lost hope but in a few days time, there it was around his wrist.

Attachment to what are, essentially, material objects has always seemed a bit odd to me, but then when things become sentimental that feeling gets confused, and I don't quite know what to do because I pride myself on accepting that the materialistic parts of life are exactly that. And with this particular bracelet, well... It means a lot.

Asides from the part where it always returns, it signifies a perfect moment in time. I got it when I was really struggling with life. Everything seemed to be going wrong and I couldn't quite figure out how to wade through all the mess, and my faith in the people around me was waning.

And then, on a warm spring night, while I was sitting in a courtyard eating tapas at a quirky little restaurant with my family, a young & mighty attractive German guy asked me if I wanted to buy a bracelet for charity. He was backpacking around Australia selling these little trinkets for children in Cambodia. He knew it probably wasn't the most efficient way to help but he wanted to travel and when the opportunity to help people while he was at it arose, he went for it.

We parted ways, my family told me I was stupid for not getting his number (and really, I probably was), but I was quite happy with my little bracelet to remind me that no matter how bad things get, there's always these little moments of perfection that make life grand.

I know it's silly. It's a strange story that would probably be embarrassing if I let it be, but looking at this bracelet that always comes back to me, and remembering that particular night, has helped me through a couple of years that were more difficult than I ever imagined life could be.

And now that things generally seem to be on the up? Well, it's still a fun reminder of a little moment of perfection. The little moments that make this life so beautiful.